LookAtVietnam – An usual sound for Viet Nam has come to the capital – traditional Korean percussion music. The Korean Cultural Centre (KCC) is holding classes on the genre, named samulnori, as part of their efforts to introduce Korean culture to the Vietnamese people.

Music appreciation: Mun Kun-sung (in light green singlet) teaches his Vietnamese students how to perform samulnori.

“As a teacher of samulnori in Viet Nam, I’ve found that a lot of young Vietnamese people, have a great interest for this kind of art,” he says.

“It makes me very happy so I decided to come here at least once a year to teach people about samulnori.”

Samulnori

is a genre of traditional percussion music originating in Korea. The word samul means “four objects” and nori means “play”; samulnori is always performed with four traditional Korean musical instruments: Kkwaenggwari (a small gong), Jing (a larger gong), Janggu (an hourglass-shaped drum) and Buk (a barrel drum similar to the bass drum).

According to Mun Kun-sung, the genre has roots in folk music nong-ak (literally “farmers’ music”), a kind of music accompanied by acrobatics, folk dance, and rituals. The teacher first got involved in this style when he was 17.

Nong-ak

was traditionally performed in rice farming villages to cheer good harvests. While nong-ak often features the use of wind instruments, samulnori only features the four percussion instruments. Each of the four instruments represents a different weather condition: the janggu represents rain, the kkwaenggwari thunder, the jing the sounds of the wind, and the buk clouds. The idea of yin and yang is also reflected in these instruments: the buk and janggu (leather) represent the sounds of the earth, while the jing and kkwaenggwari (metal) represent sounds of the heavens.

Although generally performed indoors as a staged genre, samulnori depicts the traditional Korean culture, an agricultural society rooted in the natural environment. Samulnori is characterised by strong, accented rhythms, vibrant body movements, and an energetic spirit.

The genre has gained international popularity, with many samul nori bands and camps worldwide.

“In Korea, this is one of the official subjects in the curriculum of all secondary, high schools and universities,” Mun says. Furthermore, young Koreans are very aware of their responsibilities to conserve and maintain samulnori. Also, they are really proud of it.

Le Xuan Hai, a third year student at the Faculty of Korean Language at the University of Languages and International Studies – Ha Noi National University, is one of Mun’s students. He says he is really interested in samulnori and this is the second time he has attended a samulnori class held by the KCC.

“Not everyone can feel and understand clearly the beauty of this art if they do not concentrate and lose themselves with each drum rhythm,” Hai says.

First-time listeners might conceive the music to be a bit chaotic.

“However, when we close our eyes and listen, we can appreciate the fineness in the whole melody, and even distinguish the sounds of each instrument,” he says.

Hai has also joined a samulnori club at his university which is regularly invited to meetings between Vietnamese and Korean enterprises held in Ha Noi and some surrounding provinces like Vinh Phuc and Phu Tho.

Mun and his students will perform what they have practised for the two weeks at the closing ceremony on Friday.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News